Cybersecurity and Cyberwar

What Everyone Needs to Know

Peter W. Singer and Allan Friedman

Description

A generation ago, "cyberspace" was just a term from science fiction, used to describe the nascent network of computers linking a few university labs. Today, our entire modern way of life, from communication to commerce to conflict, fundamentally depends on the Internet. And the cybersecurity issues that result challenge literally everyone: politicians wrestling with everything from cybercrime to online freedom; generals protecting the nation from new forms of attack, while planning new cyberwars; business executives defending firms from once unimaginable threats, and looking to make money off of them; lawyers and ethicists building new frameworks for right and wrong. Most of all, cybersecurity issues affect us as individuals. We face new questions in everything from our rights and responsibilities as citizens of both the online and real world to simply how to protect ourselves and our families from a new type of danger. And, yet there is perhaps no issue that has grown so important, so quickly, and that touches so many, that remains so poorly understood.

In Cybersecurity and CyberWar: What Everyone Needs to Know, New York Times best-selling author P. W. Singer and noted cyber expert Allan Friedman team up to provide the kind of easy-to-read, yet deeply informative resource book that has been missing on this crucial issue of 21st century life. Written in a lively, accessible style, filled with engaging stories and illustrative anecdotes, the book is structured around the key question areas of cyberspace and its security: how it all works, why it all matters, and what can we do? Along the way, they take readers on a tour of the important (and entertaining) issues and characters of cybersecurity, from the "Anonymous" hacker group and the Stuxnet computer virus to the new cyber units of the Chinese and US militaries. Cybersecurity and CyberWar: What Everyone Needs to Know is the definitive account on the subject for us all, which comes not a moment too soon.

Cybersecurity and Cyberwar

What Everyone Needs to Know

Peter W. Singer and Allan Friedman

Table of Contents

1. Why cyberspace is wonderful… and complicated § What is cyberspace? § Why do people talk about the difference of a networked world? § How does the Internet actually work? § Who owns this thing? § Wait… You mean no one runs the internet? § What can governments do online? What are the limits of state power? § Just how dependent are we on cyberspace? 2. Security and Insecurity Online § What do we mean by a "secure " system? § What is the difference between an attack on a network and an attack on a system? § How does anti-virus software work? § How do you defend a network? § Why is anonymity a problem online? Why is it relatively easy to act without accountability? § How can you authenticate some one to be sure they are who they say they are? § How do we keep data secure in cyberspace? 3. Threats and Bad Actors o Differentiating threats o Value at risk § What are the bad guys after? What can you really do with a computer? § What's the worst you can do? Can a hacker really turn off the power grid? o Different motivations of attackers o Different types of attacks o What is Cyber Terrorism, actually? § What does "cyberwarfare" mean? § How are countries militarizing cyberspace? Why? § So if we just built better systems, could we have a secure internet? 4. Case Studies / Examples of attacks o Aurora / Google {phishing, attribution} o Stuxnet {Critical infrastructure, intelligence} o Wikileaks data breach & fallout {data protection, DoS} o Israel-Syria Air Defense {Cyber-Kinetic Crossover, cyberwar} - 5. Why securing cyberspace is hard § What are some mechanisms that enable us to trust systems or data? § What is the difference between espionage and exploitation? § Why not just write better software? § Why can't network operators detect bad behavior? § Why security through obscurity doesn't work § How do we know what has happened after a cyber incident? § How does the rise in "cloud computing " change the dynamics of cyber security? § What makes mobile computing different? § If everyone's systems are vulnerable, can't defenders just interrupt the attacker's systems? § Why is it so hard to know who the attackers are? § Why does attribution matter? § How do we measure a cyber risk? § Why aren't users able to protect themselves? § Don't vendors and service providers have enough incentives to provide good security? § Why aren't companies investing enough to protect themselves? 6. International Dimensions § What changes when cyber problems cross international borders? § How do countries differ in their approach to cyberspace? § Who has the biggest cyber armies? § What constitutes an act of war? § How does law enforcement deal with international boundaries? § What are existing international organizations currently doing? § What international treaties are in place? § Why don't the classic models of military deterrence work for cyberspace? § What are the obstacles to international cooperation to resolve cybersecurity issues? 7.The path forward to a more secure cyberspace § It sounds like every aspect of modern life is vulnerable. Are things really that bad? § Why can't we just re-built the technology to prevent bad behavior? § Can we impose accountability through national control of cyberspace? § How can private firms be incentivized to internalize their risk? § If a company or government agency was willing to invest in cyber security defenses, what would stand in their way? § Can internet service providers do more to identity and stop bad behavior? § How can we make it harder for bad actors to profit from successful attacks § What can I do to protect myself?

Author Information

Peter W. Singer is a Senior Fellow and the Director of the 21st Century Defense Initiative at the Brookings Institution. Allan Friedman is a Fellow in Governance Studies and Research Director of the Center for Technology Innovation at the Brookings Institution.

Cybersecurity and Cyberwar

What Everyone Needs to Know

Peter W. Singer and Allan Friedman

Reviews and Awards

"In our digital age, the issues of cybersecurity are no longer just for the technology crowd; they matter to us all. Whether you work in business or politics, the military or the media — or are simply an ordinary citizen — this is an essential read." - Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman, Google

"This is the most approachable and readable book ever written on the cyber world. The authors have distilled the key facts and policy, provided sensible recommendations, and opened the debate generally to any informed citizen: a singular achievement. A must read for practitioners and scholars alike." - Admiral James Stavridis, U.S. Navy (Ret), former Supreme Allied Commander at NATO

"In confronting the cybersecurity problem, it's important for all of us to become knowledgeable and involved. This book makes that possible — and also fascinating. It's everything you need to know about cybersecurity, wonderfully presented in a clear and smart way."" - Walter Isaacson, author of Steve Jobs

"If you read only one book about 'all this cyberstuff,' make it this one. Singer and Friedman know how to make even the most complicated material accessible and even entertaining, while at the same time making a powerful case for why all of us need to know more and think harder about the (cyber)world we know live in."" - Anne-Marie Slaughter, President, the New America Foundation

"Singer and Friedman do a highly credible job of documenting the present and likely future risky state of cyber-affairs. This is a clarion call."" - Vint Cerf, "Father of the Internet," Presidential Medal of Freedom winner

"I loved this book. Wow. Until I read this astonishing and important book, I didn't know how much I didn't know about the hidden world of cybersecurity and cyberwar. Singer and Friedman make comprehensible an impossibly complex subject, and expose the frightening truth of just how vulnerable we are. Understanding these often-invisible threats to our personal and national security is a necessary first step toward defending ourselves against them. This is an essential read." - Howard Gordon, Executive Producer of 24 and co-creator of Homeland